A & B Fuel owners looking forward to day in court

The A & B Fuel scandal that has led to at least three bankruptcies and perhaps thousands of customers without fuel or refunds, has left the owners broke, angry and unrepentant.

HOWARD FRANK

The A & B Fuel scandal that has led to at least three bankruptcies and perhaps thousands of customers without fuel or refunds, has left the owners broke, angry and unrepentant.

"We're really not supposed to talk to you because of the —— that's gone down. We got ——ed. We got ——ed because we were supposed to get oil at a certain price, and we never got the oil," Artie Baio said.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's office flied suit last week against the Baios and obtained a temporary court order freezing their assets. Monroe County District Attorney David Christine said his office was investigating to determine if any crimes have been committed.

The Baios, tracked down to an eastern Long Island fuel distributor where both are working, blamed an unscrupulous supplier for their companies' collapse, and their inability to deliver oil and propane that customers had prepurchased.

The Baios solicited prepayments from customers for fuel at contractually guaranteed, discounted prices, sometimes a year prior to the heating season. But they began making only partial deliveries to customers in November 2007, and shut their doors in a month later without fulfilling the contracts or returning customers' payments.

Standing in the parking lot of Parkside Fuel in Mount Sinai, N.Y., Baio described a series of events that he said forced the couple to close their business.

"We made all these pre-buys at such a price, and they never gave us the oil. I put in a million dollars of my own money to try and get these people oil. I just ran out of money. Just ran out of money. I had no more money," Baio said.

Baio denied any wrongdoing.

"I didn't steal anything from them. I gave them oil as much as I could until I just had no more money. I couldn't get any more money. I went to the bank and got a half a million dollars besides. I still didn't have enough money," he said.

But when asked how he felt about all the customers whose money he'd taken without delivering fuel, Baio was unapologetic.

"For all these years that they've saved money, all these people, I've saved them thousands of dollars. The one time they get ——ed." He said the court process will reveal the truth. "All of this —— will come out. Everything will come out."

Baio said that the Pennsylvania attorney general's office had contacted him, but the Monroe County District Attorney's office had not.

Baio was also unhappy he was served by the attorney general for a court appearance on short notice. "He came Friday and gave me notice. He wanted me to be there Tuesday without representation? Come on, this is ridiculous," Baio said.

Beverly Baio responded briefly to a request from the Pocono Record to hear her side of the story.

"We appreciate your help. We have started a new job. Obviously, we have to make a living. There are things that happened. It will all come out," she said.

A man who said he owned Parkside Fuel and identified himself only as Mike spoke sympathetically of the Baios.

"I know the situation. It's a bad situation. I know that. In this business, this —— happens. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. You get caught in the middle of what you can do and what you can't do, and at a certain point, you can't do anything about it. They are good people," he said.

Mike said he believed the Baios had good intentions.

"If they had two million dollars or whatever it would cost, I don't know what the number is, to bail themselves out and come through shinning, they would do it. They've broken down crying to me," he said.

Mike said he knew Artie Baio as a child when Baio helped his family through tough times.

"I know Artie from when I was this big (gesturing with his hand by his belt). He was our burner guy. He would come out in the middle of the night. My mother had no money. We lived in a little tiny house with three boys, divorced family.

"And when we got oil, it was because we ran out of oil, because my mother didn't have the money to actually be on top of it. And this guy came out dozens of times, in the middle of the night, started (the burner) up, didn't charge," he said.

But Mike fears a backlash from his association with the Baios.

"I just don't want you taking pictures of my building, putting it in your paper. Unless a lynch mob wants to go to their house, that's fine. But not to my business. I don't need it. There is no tie, no connection to me. I don't need this. I don't need the disruption," he said.

In Pennsylvania, attorneys Ron Santara of Forty Fort and John Martin of Honesdale represent the Baios' companies, Country Craftsman Builders and All County Petroleum Management, in Chapter 7 liquidation. A & B Fuel operated under Country Craftsman Builders. Both Country Craftsman and All County filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 31.